Showing Results for "behaviour"

See Also:

• a variation of behavior.

behaviour

American  

[bih-heyv-yer] / bɪˈheɪv jər /

noun

Chiefly British.

1. behavior.

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behaviour British  

/ bɪˈheɪvjə /

noun

1. manner of behaving or conducting oneself

2. behaving with careful good manners

3. psychol

   1. the aggregate of all the responses made by an organism in any situation

   2. a specific response of a certain organism to a specific stimulus or group of stimuli

4. the action, reaction, or functioning of a system, under normal or specified circumstances

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Spelling

See -or ¹.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• behavioural
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of behaviour

C15: from _behave ; influenced in form by Middle English havior , from Old French havoir , from Latin habēre to have

Explanation

Your behaviour is the way you act in various situations. Note that this word ends with "our," which is the British spelling, while the American English spelling is behavior. This discrepancy is common, and either spelling is correct. The Late Middle English word behavoure meant "to have possession," which seemingly refers to a person in control of his or her actions. If you are accused of childish behaviour, you might be acting as though you have little self-control. Scottish musician Shirley Manson once said: "A lot of celebrities just want money, fame, power, fancy cars, houses all over the world and have people bow down to them. To me, that's frightful behaviour."

Example Sentences

A study from the Canine Behaviour Centre at Queen's University Belfast, published in 2023, looked at the reaction of 50 dogs in a rescue shelter to different screens.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026

"Contrary to commonly held perceptions of sharks, our study shows they have relatively rich and complex social lives," said Professor Darren Croft, from Exeter's Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour.

From Science Daily • Mar. 17, 2026

Dispersal zone powers are not new - they were introduced in Scotland under the Antisocial Behaviour etc.

From BBC • Feb. 26, 2026

The Welsh government said the work was "part of a wide range of actions" it was taking on behaviour following the National Behaviour Summit and after working with the education sector.

From BBC • Feb. 19, 2026

He wrote: “Distraction during the appearance of the stimulus is always punished with the prolongation of the process,” notes a biography published by the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour in the Netherlands.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel